Finding Peace Series

She said, “Those are the only two prayers I know and when I get to church God has been so good I just put my two prayers together, ‘O Lord, thank you Jesus.’” (H.B. Charles, A Psalm for Giving Thanks, www.PreacingToday.com)

Do you know, that’s not a bad way to pray in times of trouble: “O Lord, thank you Jesus!” For when you combine prayer with thanksgiving, God’s peace guards your heart and mind (verse 7 says). That is to say, God’s peace becomes a battalion of soldiers around your head, protecting you from making stupid decisions and doing stupid stuff, which creates even more turmoil.

“O Lord, thank you Jesus!”

If you want to find real peace in the midst of trouble, 1st, stand right; 2nd, be right; 3rd, pray right; and 4th…

THINK RIGHT.

Dwell on the positives and not the negatives.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (ESV)

Dwell on the positives, not the negatives.

Ron Blue, in his book Faith-based Family Finances, tells the story about a father of a wealthy family, who took his son on a trip to the country to show his son how poor people can be. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from the trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”

“It was great, Dad.”

“Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked.

“Oh yeah,” said the son.

“So what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.

The son answered: “I saw that we have one dog, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden, and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden, and they have stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard, and they have the whole horizon.

“We have a small piece of land to live on, and they have fields that go beyond sight. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, but they have their friends to protect them.”

With this, the boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, “Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are.” (Ron Blue, Faith-based Family Finances, Tyndale, 2008, pp. 29-30; www.PreachingToday.com)

I don’t think that was the lesson that wealthy father wanted his son to learn, but it does raise an important point: perspective is everything! When you focus on the negatives, even those with great wealth can feel poor. However, when you focus on the positives, those who are very poor can discover that they’re very rich!

Do you want to find real peace in the midst of your trouble, then 1st, stand right; 2nd, be right; 3rd, pray right; 4th, think right; and 5th…

DO RIGHT.

Follow the example of people who depend on Christ, and live as they live. In verse 9, Paul says…